When I facilitate, I have one golden rule. Always give time back, never take it away. I never, ever over-run. Time is such a precious commodity. People have chosen to give this up to take part in your workshop, so you need to treat it with respect. In my view, there’s nothing worse than a facilitator who overruns. It shows you haven’t planned or you’re losing control of the session. The only time I ever go over the allotted time is when the session owner or the attendees request it.

So, if you struggle with timekeeping when you facilitate, how do you get better at ir? Here are a few suggestions.

1 Prepare your materials well in advance

As I’ve written before, planning is everything. Get all your materials sorted, printed and packed well in advance. This is particularly important if you’re running an Idea Generation workshop. You'll have lots of material to get ready. Whenever possible, I try to avoid sending material to the venue and bring it with me instead. There’s always a risk that it will get lost in transit or that the venue loses it. You could do without the stress. 

If you’re ahead of the game, you’ll feel in control.

2 Never send out a detailed agenda

Sure, people need to know the objectives, the start and finish times and when you’re planning breaks. But don’t send out your itemised agenda with all the various timings. The precise timing of each session belongs to you. You’ll need to adjust timings throughout the day. What you don’t want is the participants checking and questioning the timings. You don’t want people telling you you’re ahead or behind schedule. Instead, encourage them to stay focused on the task.

3 Get to the venue early

Get there the day/ evening before. This will allow you to set up the room and prep your flipcharts. You can also check out the technical stuff and resolve any teething problems. You can then go through the session ‘in – situ’, working out how to use the space. Once the room’s set up, you can relax and focus on building rapport with the first few people who arrive. If there are any issues, you can sort them out, rather than delay the session.

4 Always start on time

Sounds obvious, I know, but if you lose a few minutes up front, you’re always playing catch up. I always kick off on time, unless there's a travel issue. I also feel that those who have made the effort to be there on time shouldn’t get penalised for it. Why should the punctual ones be forced to wait for the stragglers? If people arrive later, allow them to find their places and carry on. Sure, find an appropriate time to welcome them to the group, but don’t wait for them.

The same argument applies to the end of break times. Get going. If you start getting loose with time, people will exploit this and start turning up later and later.

5 Reward good time keeping

I always thank people for getting there on time. To encourage everyone, I reward the ones who are the best timekeepers. I find chocolate usually works best. Otherwise, I choose ‘points’ if there’s an ongoing competition taking place. For example, offer rewards to the first team back in their seats after the break. It brings out the competitive streak in everyone and soon all the teams will be keen to win the prize!

6 Provide regular time checks

Sometimes people get so caught up in their work that they lose track of time. To counter this, make sure you provide updates. Announce ‘you have x mins to go on this exercise’ at regular intervals, so when time’s up there are no surprises. If people complain or ask for more time, stand firm, unless you feel it’s vital. Remind them that you gave them lots of notice and that we must move on.

7 Build in flexibility

In every workshop, you must improvise when your original plan goes awry. That’s fine. You need to expect it and deal with it.

In general, I ‘under-plan’ a session. I always build in slack to allow for slippage. Having longish break times also gives you a bit of flexibility. You can always trim a few minutes off them to save a bit of time. 

Always have a Plan B in case things move along quicker than you expect. If this happens, have 1 or 2 exercises or an extra session up your sleeve to fill the gap. This way, you’re able to adapt and improvise.

8 Do the important stuff first

The nightmare scenario is getting to the end of the session without working on the key topics. The key lesson is to make sure you attack the important topics early in the session. This is because a) people have the most energy b) you need to spend enough time on them. Always be sensitive about which topics/sessions you’re able to cut short or remove if you’re forced to.

9 Internalise your session plan

Often in the heat of a workshop, it’s hard to keep referring back to your detailed agenda. Make sure you carry the broad shape of the plan in your head. For example, by the first break, I need to have achieved x. By lunchtime, I expect you have got to this point. That way, you’ll always have a feel for where you should be and be able to adjust accordingly.

10 Aim to finish early

If you finish a little bit early, people will be delighted, so always plan for this as part of the session. Even though you say the session will end at say 5.30, plan to finish by 5.15. Nobody will feel short-changed. In contrast, if you over-run by only 5 or 10 minutes, people will resent you. We live in a frantic, over-scheduled world. Every second counts.

On the flip side, beware of finishing too early. People want to get value for money for the session and you want to maximise the time you have with everyone. Make a judgement. 15 minutes is OK. 30 minutes, maybe too much. 

Summary

As a facilitator, great timekeeping is down to you. The key is to lead by example. Get to the venue early. Always start on time. Use your experience to create a plan that is adaptable to time shifts. You need a plan that allows you to improvise. During the session itself, keep everyone on track. Provide regular time checks and reward good behaviour. Hold the plan in your head so you can always sense where you are. Get the important stuff done first. And finally, remember the golden rule. Always give time back, never take it away.